Keep Dreaming Upside Down
by holygoof101
Summary: A take on Finn's first football season with Rachel from Finn's perspective. Pure fluff.


A/N: Yes I write about football too much. Oh well deal with it. I've hit a stumbling block in Collide so here's some pure unbeta'd fluff that probably needs to be beta'd bad. Enjoy.

He'll never forget the first Saturday she came over during football season. She was dressed in a shirt with polar bears on it; despite that it was just the beginning of fall. Her skirt was so short it didn't even meet her knee socks and with the way she twirled as she entered the room if he'd been paying attention to her he might have caught a glimpse of her panties. But it was a Saturday during football season and all Finn was concerned about as Rachel bounced into the room was the fact that she was blocking the television.

"Rachel… game… back on," he managed to point and grunt out as he tried to swallow a mouth full of pretzels. The look on her face dropped her mouth already open as if she had something to say before he had pointed and grunted at her. Quick to rectify his actions he patted the space on the couch next to him. Rachel was important to him, but it was Saturday and OSU was playing and not every well at that, so his blood pressure was already high and the last thing he needed during a stressful game was to have to deal with a ranting or even worse crying Rachel. "Sorry, give me like another half an hour and I'm all yours I swear." He said as he leaned over to kiss her temple still watching the television out of the corner of his eye. "Did you see that?" Finn jumped from the sofa and pointed at Burt sitting the recliner, "That was like an 80 yard run." He groaned and ran his hands through his hair, "We're screwed when we play Michigan if we play like we have been so far. We can barely keep a head of the University of Miami… OHIO, right now!" Finn threw his arms in the air in a rant as he paced across the living room with his heart pounding in his chest. "Really," he said looking from Burt over to Rachel and planting his feet on the ground in front of her as his arms flailed wildly in the direction of the television. "I mean seriously it's the University of Miami OHIO! We should be murdering them right now, not a head by seven." He ranted to Rachel who looked up at him with a combination of concern, and confusion in her eyes. For a moment he thought that she was going to burst into tears.

"I'm sorry," she said softly and reached up to tug on his arms and pull him back down onto the sofa with her. "Are they not good?" Rachel voice was soft and meek and very… un-Rachel like.

"Not good, not good, they're a completely… what is that word you always use when someone's nowhere near as good as you…"

"Inferior?"

"Yea that's it, they're a completely inferior team, we should be murdering them." Finn practically yelled as he shoved his hands into his hair and tugged at it.

Her hand slide down his back and she cocked her head towards him, "Finn calm down, I can feel your heart pounding. You're going to have a stroke, or a heart attack if you don't calm down. It's just a game you don't have any control over it."

Finn jumped up off the sofa at her words and flung his arms in a frantic manner around the room. "Just a game? Just a game? Is Bernadette what's her name just an actress? Is Funny Girl just some musical? Rachel its OSU and they're only up by one score and the University of Miami… OHIO is driving right now." He scoffed and shook his head as he pointed at the television again, and tugged at his hair making it messy and matted against his head. "I'm having a heart attack. That's it I'm dead. If OSU doesn't win this game I'm dead." He groaned and blew out a hard breath before he turned his full attention back to the television still standing with his feet firmly planted as if he needed to brace himself. "Three minutes left. Come on boys just hold them for another three minutes."

"Finn," he hears her quietly say his name and before he can stop her she's pulled him back down onto the sofa. Her hand is in his hair, her fingers are lightly scratching at his scalp, and when he feels her head rest down against his shoulder he can also feel his heart slowing down and the blood start to drain from his face. All of a sudden he's relaxed and he doesn't feel like he's going to die anymore, even if OSU loses. Maybe having Rachel around during football games isn't such a bad thing.

After the game when OSU had finally won, only by seven points which he was sure he ranted about so much that even Burt started to lose interest in hearing him talk, Rachel finally explains to him that she didn't mean to offend him when she said it was only a game. And it wasn't that she didn't like football she just didn't know much about the game. Sure she knows what a touchdown and a field goal are but everything else was just kind of lost on her. And it makes sense; she's the daughter of two gay dads with a flair for performance and dramatics. In a way he feels kind of bad for ignoring her during the game now. So they make a deal and he promises that the next Saturday if she comes to watch the game with him he'll explain the entire thing to her as it goes.

So the next weekend they watch the game at his house while his mom's at work. And Finn makes good on his promise. Luckily the game isn't stressful. Sure the visiting team scored on their first possession but after that OSU jumped out to a big lead and never let go of it. By halftime they have the game on lock and he can put his full attention towards explaining everything to Rachel. He even finds it cute when she asks completely clueless questions.

"So why isn't it called a throwing back? The running back runs with the ball and on defense the linebacker on the ones that help the guys on the line, then why isn't your position called the throwing back?"

He can't help but give a smile laugh and grin at her. He's never seen Rachel Berry clueless about anything, she's like the smartest person he knows, so it makes him feel kind of good that there's at least one thing he knows more about than her. Instead of giving her an answer, because honestly he doesn't have one, he simply leans in and kisses her full on the lips not even caring that the games come back from commercial. Of course he also has the security of knowing that there's no way they're going to lose, but somehow right then he doesn't think he'd care even if they were because he's kissing Rachel and somehow he's on his back with her on top of him and they've managed to knock the bowl of pretzels they were sharing on to the floor. They'll need to sweep those up before his mom gets home but that's something else that can wait because Rachel just made this really great breathy moaning sound and he no longer even cares that there's a game on at all.

But all of a sudden he feels her lips quickly snatch away from him and sitting up on his lap clapping her hands, "TOUCHDOWN!" Rachel squeals and beams as she pats his chest and points to the television. "They scored a touchdown on a slant route that went 35 yards down the field… Look I'm learning and you're team scored. I think they're going to win. You should be happy."

"Yea they're going to win Rach," he remarks with only a hint of disinterest as they sit back up on the couch to watch the game. Finn leans over and gives Rachel a quick kiss on the cheek letting his lips trail down against her neck, hoping to get back to where they were just moments ago, but she's already pointing at the game and asking questions again. His lips curl into a half smile; she's absolutely adorable when she's trying to take interest in something he likes. He never thought he'd actually be disinterested in football but right now it's a huge buzz kill.

After he taught her more about the game, watching football together becomes a routine part of their Saturdays. She says she watches it with him because mutual interests keeps relationships alive, he thinks she knows she keeps him calm and likes having the effect on him. But it doesn't matter, she doesn't mind watching games with him and he likes having her around. OSU versus Michigan is always a stressful game no matter what the team records are, so he defiantly likes having her around right now. Plus his mom and Burt are on their honeymoon and Kurt's out with Blaine so they have the house to themselves. They opt to watch the game in his new bedroom on the new plasma television Burt bought him that he loves so much because it's got a great picture and its high definition so the games always look so awesome. Almost better than if he were at the games watching them in person. She spends the game curled into the crook of his arm playing with his hair to keep him calm. She doesn't yell at the television the way he does, but she doesn't try to stop him either and he kind of loves her for it because he never has to hold back when he's with her. She's learned not to ask too many questions when the games are on, and sometimes he even catches her making comments directed at the players on the field, even though she still tell him they can't hear him when he does it. Maybe it's not cool to spend your football time watching the game with your girl, but he thinks it's really awesome that his girlfriend will watch games with him. He can't think of any other guy he knows that can say that.

"Is that your dream?" She asks softly as she looks up from his shoulder once the game is over, and she doesn't give him a chance to answer before she keeps talking. "I've been watching these games with you all season, and I've been learning about the game but mostly I watch you… And I've been wondering is that your dream? To be the Quarterback for Ohio State?"

Finn feels his lips curl into a small smile as he shrugs a bit, "Yea I guess so, I mean sure," his voice isn't exactly certain, they've always talked about her dreams. He knows exactly what she wants for the future but they've never really talked about his. And he didn't really think about that stuff much. Sure it was a dream what guy doesn't want to be the leader of his favorite team, what guy didn't picture themselves throwing the football in front of a hundred thousand people and getting the rush from winning games. But he'd never really put a lot of stock into it, a lot of guys had dreams like that not many actually got to live them. "It's why I started playing football." He finally answers quietly with another shrug, and he's not sure why but he sees Rachel's face fall a bit and her eyes kind drift off like she's some place where he isn't.

"If we both get our dreams, you'll be in Ohio and I'll be in New York… They're really far away from each other." She looks like she's about to cry and the last thing he wants is Rachel crying over something that's probably never going to happen. And that's all he can think to tell her is that his dreams are probably never going to happen. Sure he has a better shot now with the Beiste as their coach but he also knows that a team with a kid in a wheelchair as a running back is still about as much of a joke as a team that did the Single Ladies dance as play. And after he tell her all of this she still looks like she's going to cry, "But I want you to have your dreams come true because you've help mine come true."

Finn has no clue what to say to her words, but now he feels like he's going to cry. Not really a sad cry, but not really a happy cry either. Just an emotional kind of feeling that he can't place, but he really doesn't want to cry in front of Rachel, so instead he kisses her. And he kisses her so hard and with so much passion that he can feel her breath leave her. Their words are forgotten, they're lingering in their kisses. And when they finally break apart their both breathless with swollen lips and pounding hearts and he knew that if he wanted to right then he could probably push a little bit and get farther than he has with her, but right then he doesn't want to. He wants her to feel secure that their dreams and their futures despite being different could still work together. His hand reaches up and brushes her hair away from her forehead and he lets his thumb trail down her cheek, "You know OSU may have been my dream since I was kid but now when I picture it…" He pauses and leans down to kiss her forehead letting his lips linger as she pushes against them. The action cause a wash of comfort to come over him and hopefully her too, as he pulls away and looks down at her meeting her eyes with adoration and hope in his, "You're always cheering me on. And if you have to cheer me on from far away then at least now you'll understand what you're watching me do right? Because I don't want that dream anymore if you're not cheering me on." He hopes she understands what he's really saying and he thinks she does because she nods and draws him back down to her kissing him with as much passion as he'd kissed her moments earlier. He'd never thought he'd love anything or anyone as much as he loved football and he was right because he loves Rachel Berry more.


End file.
